Sunday, December 25, 2011

Santa Sonia Vs. Saint Anna

MERRY X'MAS BLOGDOSTS!! I've enjoyed a really terrific one this year. As I hope you have, too! Watched Don-2 last night. Check out this space on Tuesday for more! ************

Santa Sonia Vs. Saint Anna….

Merry X’Mas, readers. What a strange season to be jolly and go ‘ho ho ho’! If we are looking for fireworks on New Year’s Eve, we’ll get them! But for now, let’s see what Santa Sonia has lined up for us in her bag of goodies. Oooops! Isn’t her customary Santa sack really tiny?More like a knapsack than a bulging- with- gifts bag one associates with a generous, large- hearted Mother X’Mas . Let’s blame it on global recession. Santa has had to tighten that belt, and slow down the sleigh. Even the poor reindeer looked lean and hungry this year. Why blame Santa Sonia? In any case, what Santa Sonia needs to pull out of that sack is a jumbo sized fire extinguisher to put out all those fires. It has been a pretty lousy year, duniya ke liye. And by the time 2011 finally comes to an end, perhaps our overcrowded jails will be overflowing - Saint Anna is at it again. And while he limbers up for yet another fast, the flock is getting impatient. Unfortunately, the Lokpal ‘Bill’-ing and cooing marathon has hit a roadblock. If Team Anna’s actual intention was to bring down the government, that hasn’t happened so far. Santa Sonia’s reindeer (read: Pranab,Digvijay and Manmohan) are going to find it tough to drag that sled over this hurdle. Most chimneys and choolahs in India have remained unused in 2011, thanks to the ridiculously high food prices. If Santa Sonia wants to bring a smile to people’s faces, she’d better pull out some loaves .Santa can’t afford to adopt the cavalier ‘Let them eat cake’ approach this time. Somehow, a ‘Cake, Kapda aur Makaan’ slogan doesn’t sound right. The natives are definitely restless, and it’s no use offering cupcakes and hot cross buns, when there is no daal-roti in the kitchen. Kharcha is on everybody’s mind, far more than an abstraction called ‘corruption’. If Santa Sonia takes up Saint Anna’s challenge to engage in a public debate (what’s the bet it will not happen?), at least the faithful will know the true position of her government. As of now, there is full on confusion, where the last person whose interests are supposedly being protected is the citizen.No jingle bells for the aam aadmi, alas. And zero governance for the country. Young people are dying to ‘bharo’ those jails and sport trendy ‘I am Anna’ topis. That’s youth. Give them hope, package it well, arouse their sentiments, allow them to believe change is in their hands, and they’ll be prepared to fast, march, light candles, shout slogans, throw stones, take to the streets, even lay down their lives. It is a phenomenon the world has witnessed over and over again. It is this very idealism, trust and naivete that leaders capitalize on and exploit. If we are indeed heading for an ‘Indian Summer’, it will be fired up twenty-somethings who will act as the drivers. But drivers for what?Against whom? We are being brainwashed into believing this agitation is about rooting out corruption. And the only way to get that done is to push Saint Anna’s Bill through parliament without altering a comma. No matter how well intentioned his version of the Lokpal Bill maybe, this is not the right tareeka in a democracy. Nor can it work in real terms. As has been pointed out by several political analysts, checks and balances already exist in our system. It is the implementation that fails. Either we shall have to start building hundreds of new jails, or construct gigantic camps in order to accommodate all the crooks who will hopefully be exposed and punished once Saint Anna succeeds in his mission. At present, we are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Team Anna has described the freshly tabled Lokpal Bill as ‘anti-people’ and ‘dangerous’. Team Sonia calls it ‘strong’. A new twist ( minority quota) is being viewed as an unpleasant political game being played by the Congress for electoral benefits in 140 Muslim-dominated assembly constituencies. Which takes us right back to square one. X’Mas is a good time to reflect and rethink. We are on the brink of a modern day battle of Kurukshetra. Except that this one will be fought electronically over social networking platforms. Words and ideas will be the weapons of mass destruction. It’s all about numbers and public opinion. A timely tweet can change history. Beware! The writing is on the wall, guys. And it is exactly 140 characters long.

18 comments:

//We are being brainwashed into believing this agitation is about rooting out corruption.//

Aptly put! People have been ridiculing me for not supporting Lokpal and the same Anna supporters say, Politicians need to come clean first. The ground level citizens will eventually, as it is indeed difficult to survive without bribing :-/

As has been pointed out by several political analysts, checks and balances already exist in our system. It is the implementation that fails. Either we shall have to start building hundreds of new jails, or construct gigantic camps in order to accommodate all the crooks who will hopefully be exposed and punished once Saint Anna succeeds in his mission.

This is one of the most balanced and mature statements I have heard in the context of the entire corruption debate. In my many years in the land of the free , I was a "loony" Libertarian. I still am, at heart, although, I am not aware of any active Libertarian movement in India. If one did exist, I am sure that my cohorts would say that the root of all evil is the government. You can never build a government that is free of corruption and inefficiency, but you can always reduce government spending, cut down the number of people employed by the government, and cut down the taxes on the common man in the process. That is what being Libertarian is all about.

Let us look at it this way, if you cut government down by 50%, and corruption stays the same, you will cut down corruption by 50% . And, if you didn't give Lalu Yadav a lot of money to manage a government program that feeds buffaloes, I have a feeling that he would stop eating buffalo feed altogether. And get something more nutritious to eat that does not make hair grow out of his ears.

Let us hope that the real Santa brings a Libertarian movement to our country in the new year. And let us hope that Rudolph's red nose takes all the red away from our nation's balance sheets -- your Santa Sonia seems hell bent on spending all the borrowed money we have got. And paint the exchequer red.

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Even if Saint Anna's movement fails 100% - It's still a big achievement to see the political class running for cover and their young children and grand-children being made aware that how CROOKED and FILTHY their parents and grandparents are who are running this country.

Even Priyanka Gandhi's kids are ashamed in front of their peers when they go to school.

A corrupt political class can NEVER pass a lokpal bill which will fecilitate fast entry to their graveyard. PERIOD !!

'...will be fought electronically over social networking platforms. Words and ideas will be the weapons of mass destruction. It’s all about numbers and public opinion. A timely tweet can change history. Beware! The writing is on the wall, guys. And it is exactly 140 characters long.'

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Happy christmas!The choolah and chimney line was really good and the last paragraph about kurukshetra and the same being fought electronically ...true!smart post...let see what happens,honestly am not really into Anna's fast but very much for a good lokpal Bill.I have not watched DON 2(my brother saw the movie and liked it ....hit he declared) but my true Don is Mr Bachchan minus special and 3D effects.

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